# Songs you find unbearably moving **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 28, 2006, 10:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-find-unbearably-moving/382050 "2006-11-28T10:09:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2006, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-find-unbearably-moving/382050/21 "2006-11-28T15:02:36Z")
Yer all gonna laugh at me: _Puff the Magic Dragon._ Yeah, I go for the literal interpretation. I was in my car when _Here Comes the Sun_ came on the radio the day we all learned that George Harrison had died. Mighty embarrassing to be bawling my eyes out at the stoplight. And in general, I have a hard time singing hymns at funerals of people I was close to. Normally I love singing, no matter the context, but I can’t do it when my feelings get in the way. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2006, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-find-unbearably-moving/382050/22 "2006-11-28T15:03:24Z")
I’m So Lonesome I could Cry–Hank Williams Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song–B. J. Thomas So play, play for me a sad Melody. So sad that it makes everybody cry-y-y-y-y. A real hurtin’ song about luv that’s gone wrong. So I don’t have to cry all alone. ---
**Author:** ![Plynck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Plynck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Plynck)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2006, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-find-unbearably-moving/382050/23 "2006-11-28T15:05:20Z")
Another vote for _“Don’t Give Up”_ and _“Come On, Come On”._ Also: Patty Griffin’s _“Rain”_ Antje Duvekot’s _“Judas”_ James Keelaghan’s _“Cold Missouri Waters”_ Michael Smith’s _“Sister Clarissa”_ Richard Shindell’s _“Reunion Hill”_ Beth Nielsen Chapman’s _“Sand and Water”_ Emmy Lou Harris’ _“Red Dirt Girl”_ Karla Bonoff’s _“The Water is Wide”_ (traditional, but I like her interpretation best) \*“Another Train” \* by Pete Morton/Sally Barker/The Poozies (they’re all good) ---
**Author:** ![HelloKitty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ecccb3/32.png) [@HelloKitty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HelloKitty)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2006, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-find-unbearably-moving/382050/24 "2006-11-28T15:06:06Z")
**Time and Tide** - Basia. It reminds me of a dearly departed friend. I probably haven’t listened to the song in about 5 years because I can’t make it through without blubbering. **I Wish I Could Be There** - Marc Broussard **I Dare You to Move** - Switchfoot, especially these lyrics: > [@](#): > > Maybe redemption has stories to tell > Maybe forgiveness is right where you fell > Where do you run to escape from yourself? > Where you gonna go? > Salvation is Here ---
**Author:** ![robardin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/43a26b/32.png) [@robardin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robardin)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2006, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-find-unbearably-moving/382050/25 "2006-11-28T15:07:39Z")
I’ve always found **k.d. lang** ’s version of Cole Porter’s _So In Love_ for a compliation called “Red, Hot + Blue” (a benefit for AIDS research) very moving. In the video it becomes clear that the object of the lovesick song is a lover who has passed away. _So haunt me, and hurt me / Deceive me, desert me / I’m yours 'till I die / So in love with you, my love, am I…_ **Mike + The Mechanics** ’ song _The Living Years_ is another one, about a man finally coming to terms with his father, but only after his father has passed away. I agree, **Eric Clapton** ’s song _Tears In Heaven_ is a tear-jerker for me now that I am the father of a 3-year-old boy. As is **John Lennon** ’s song _Beautiful Boy (Darling Boy)_, written about how much he loved and looked forward to watching his 3-year-old son Sean grow up, and recorded just a few months before his murder. ---
**Author:** ![Poysyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Poysyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Poysyn)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2006, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-find-unbearably-moving/382050/26 "2006-11-28T15:08:47Z")
“In My Life” - The Beatles “The Farmer’s Song” - it was played at my stepfather’s service “You’ll Be in My Heart” - Phil Collins, especially the line “For one so small, you seem so strong” It reminds me of my daughter “El Shaddai”- Amy Grant - The line “Your most awesome work was done Through the frailty of your son.” and lately, “Letters from War” - Mark Schultz I’m just a big suck, obviously. ---
**Author:** ![Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a88e4f/32.png) [@Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eleanor_of_Aquitaine)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2006, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-find-unbearably-moving/382050/27 "2006-11-28T15:13:26Z")
Kate Bush’s _This Woman’s Work_ will make me tear up, so I usually skip it unless I’m in the mood. _All the things we should have done that we never did, All the things we should have said that we never said._ ::sniff:: ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2006, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-find-unbearably-moving/382050/28 "2006-11-28T15:13:44Z")
[QUOTE=lieu] Janice Ian’s _At Seventeen_ Ditto on _Vincent_ Clapton’s _Tears In Heaven_ [/QUOTE] I’ll see you those three and raise you “The Promise” by Tracy Chapman. [http://www.lyrics007.com/Tracy%20Chapman%20Lyrics/The%20Promise%20Lyrics.html](http://www.lyrics007.com/Tracy%20Chapman%20Lyrics/The%20Promise%20Lyrics.html) If I’m in the right mood, I can cry just thinking of that song. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2006, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-find-unbearably-moving/382050/29 "2006-11-28T15:20:19Z")
[QUOTE=madmonk28] John Prine’s “The Great Compromise” just destroys me. [/QUOTE] Speaking of **John Prine** , I’m going to go with [“Paradise”](http://www.singulartists.com/artist_j/john_prine_lyrics/paradise_lyrics.html) _And Daddy won’t you take me back to Muhlenberg County Down by the Green River where Paradise lay Well, I’m sorry, my son, but you’re too late in asking Mister Peabody’s coal train has hauled it away_ And also [“Almost Blue”](http://www.lyricsfreak.com/e/elvis+costello/almost+blue_20047330.html) by **Elvis Costello** And even though I’ve never been through a divorce (which I understand inspired the lyrics) I find [“Why?”](http://www.lyricsfreak.com/a/annie+lennox/why_10012037.html) by **Annie Lennox** very moving. And since that last selection might otherwise make me turn in my man card, I will trot out [“Goodbye”](http://www.cowboylyrics.com/lyrics/earle-steve/goodbye-2180.html) by **Steve Earle**. Finally, since I always like to have a bluegrass selection on these sorts of lists, I will add [“There Is a Time”](http://www.amazon.com/gp/music/wma-pop-up/B000000ECZ001013/ref=mu_sam_wma_001_013/002-4708900-4820000) by **The Dillards**. (Some of you may remember these guys as The Darling Family that used to show up from time to time on The Andy Griffith Show.) ---
**Author:** ![kelly5078](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/6f9a4e/32.png) [@kelly5078](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kelly5078)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2006, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-find-unbearably-moving/382050/30 "2006-11-28T15:29:12Z")
“The Wind” by Cat Stevens “Long, Long Time” by Linda Ronstadt “Percy’s Song” by Fairport Convention ---
**Author:** ![Kizarvexius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/da6949/32.png) [@Kizarvexius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kizarvexius)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2006, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-find-unbearably-moving/382050/31 "2006-11-28T15:33:27Z")
Gorecki’s _Symphony of Sorrowful Songs_ is the most profoundly moving piece of music I’ve ever heard. Turn out the lights, slip on some headphones, and turn up the volume – you’ll be engulfed by an austere yet passionate musical powerhouse. It was written as a protest against Soviet oppression, framed in a series of three songs depicting mothers and the grief of loss. I recommend the Joanna Kozlowska recording ([link](http://www.amazon.com/G%C3%B3recki-Symphony-No-3-Henryk-Gorecki/dp/B00000419S/sr=1-4/qid=1164727209/ref=sr_1_4/105-3973334-3801204?ie=UTF8&s=music)), conducted by Kazimierz Kord. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2006, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-find-unbearably-moving/382050/32 "2006-11-28T15:34:01Z")
A few more: “Solo” and “Who Knows Where the Time Goes” - Sandy Denny “Back In The High Life Again” - Warren Zevon ---
**Author:** ![Ichbin\_Dubist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/51bf81/32.png) [@Ichbin\_Dubist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ichbin_Dubist)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2006, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-find-unbearably-moving/382050/33 "2006-11-28T15:59:37Z")
This is a little embarassing, but for me it’s the version of the Eagles’ “Desperado” on _The Langely Schools Music Project_ CD, where’s it’s sung by an 8-year-old girl. I don’t like the original and I would usually regard something like this as kitsch, but there’s something about the longing she sings with – and the fact that I’m the father of a girl around her age – just makes it unbearably sad to me. [QUOTE=robardin] As is John Lennon’s song Beautiful Boy (Darling Boy), written about how much he loved and looked forward to watching his 3-year-old son Sean grow up, and recorded just a few months before his murder. [/QUOTE] I find all Lennon’s songs from that record a little hard to listen to, but especially that one. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2006, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-find-unbearably-moving/382050/34 "2006-11-28T16:03:37Z")
[QUOTE=Ichbin Dubist] This is a little embarassing, but for me it’s the version of the Eagles’ “Desperado” on _The Langely Schools Music Project_ CD, where’s it’s sung by an 8-year-old girl. I don’t like the original and I would usually regard something like this as kitsch, but there’s something about the longing she sings with – and the fact that I’m the father of a girl around her age – just makes it unbearably sad to me. I find all Lennon’s songs from that record a little hard to listen to, but especially that one. [/QUOTE] “Desperado” also makes me cry…mostly because my ex was that guy. My son was robbed of a relationship with his dad due to his desperado ways. Then he died. The ex; not my son. ---
**Author:** ![susan\_foster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@susan\_foster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan_foster)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2006, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-find-unbearably-moving/382050/35 "2006-11-28T16:04:08Z")
No matter how many times I see the movie, I will always cry at When She Loved Me from Toy Story 2. Susan ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2006, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-find-unbearably-moving/382050/36 "2006-11-28T16:04:55Z")
“Waltzing Matilda” by almost anyone. “Goodbye” by Hootie and the Blowfish. “Dream Weaver” makes me weepy in a nostalgic way. :o ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2006, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-find-unbearably-moving/382050/37 "2006-11-28T16:06:42Z")
For some reason _Perfect Circle_ by REM always gets me. There’s one moment (I think it’s just before the final chorus kicks in, but I haven’t listened to it in a while so I can’t be sure), just a brief instrumental passage, that sends shivers down my spine. ---
**Author:** ![Dervorin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Dervorin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dervorin)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2006, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-find-unbearably-moving/382050/38 "2006-11-28T16:06:43Z")
Simon and Garfunkel mostly; _Bridge Over Troubled Water_ always gives me a little heartstring tug, and _The Boxer_ does as well, but the second one is more because of the associations that song has for me than any inherent property of the song\*. I find some U2 quite moving as well, particularly _Bad_. Also _Conte Partiro_, by Andrea Bocelli. \*Well, you didn’t ask, but it used to be a favourite song of someone I knew, who drowned quite tragically at the age of 17. Couldn’t listen to it for quite a while without being overwhelmingly reminded of him. Which leads me to ask: do you find that songs move you more because of memories, or just the way the song is? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Chao\_Goes\_Mu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_chao_goes_mu/32/3191_2.png) [@The\_Chao\_Goes\_Mu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Chao_Goes_Mu)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2006, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-find-unbearably-moving/382050/39 "2006-11-28T16:14:54Z")
[QUOTE=spoke-] Speaking of **John Prine** , I’m going to go with [“Paradise”](http://www.singulartists.com/artist_j/john_prine_lyrics/paradise_lyrics.html) _And Daddy won’t you take me back to Muhlenberg County Down by the Green River where Paradise lay Well, I’m sorry, my son, but you’re too late in asking Mister Peabody’s coal train has hauled it away_ [/QUOTE] Yeah, Paradise gets me too. My grandpa was a coalminer down in Muhlenberg County (not at Paradise though) and I remember the stories of the big shovel. He had seen it back in the day. Just makes me sad that he died before I really got to know him so that song tugs at the ol’ the heart strings. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2006, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-find-unbearably-moving/382050/40 "2006-11-28T16:25:06Z")
[QUOTE=gigi] “Waltzing Matilda” by almost anyone. [/QUOTE] Do you mean the Aussie “anthem”, or _And The Band Played Waltzing Matilda_? The latter really gets me in the guts. [The lyrics](http://www.pogues.com/Releases/Lyrics/LPs/RumSodomy/Waltzing.html) of the last verse are unbearably sad, and when the song changes to the original it sends shivers up my spine. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-find-unbearably-moving/382050.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-find-unbearably-moving/382050.md?page=3)